Information High: Catalyst
by Zerofoxie
Summary: Short update this time -_-;; gomen. Squall's first *real* conversation with Raine! Will he also believe that she's alive? Argh...headache! x.@
1. Storm

_atashi wo eien ni torinasai  
jibun wa kimi no ude wo saido kanjitai  
jibun wa anata no bubun de aritai _

atashi wo eien ni torinasai  
jibun no haato tameni kyuun de iru  
jibun no kokoro wa anata no yume wo ...sagashite iru 

1 - Storm

He ran out of there as fast as he could. He ran until his legs hurt, his lungs burned, his eyes flooded with either sweat or tears, he didn't know which and didn't care. He didn't even know where he was running to. All he knew was that he was going there, and making good time.

Squall Leonhart. Hardly even a man, it seemed, until the warmth of one woman's heart entered his own. He wasn't even given the simple names of who brought him into this world, who his parents were, who's name he had received at birth and lived with ever since. Squall Leonhart. Orphaned at a young age, predestined to be raised by a woman who would one day be a sorceress, brought up with those who fate would reunite years later to destroy that woman, their 'enemy'....

He had never been so scared in his life, except for when he was a child. The day They took Ellone away from him, he was angry, sad, confused...but in reality, he was scared....

"Heeey Squallly..."

"Whaaat Seifer?"

"Why are yoo crying?"

"Sis weft uss. Dey took her awaay from mee. I mish her."

"Don't be such a baby. Quit cwyiing, yoo baaybeee!" the blond boy laughed heartily.

"Shaddup, yoo MEANIE!!"

...He collapsed beneath a tree some distance from Esthar, and looked out across the desert set before him.

Desert.

Just like after they defeated the sorceress.

Just like the place he couldn't seem to escape from.

Just like the place where She came to be with him.

But She couldn't be with him now. She didn't even know he ventured to that place, to meet with Him. To be force-fed a slice of reality that turned bitter and acidic in his stomach..

His Father.

Him.

Laguna..?

The sour truth finally gnawed through his defensive wall. He coughed, leaned over, and vomited.

Squall spat onto the ground. When the acid taste finally began to leave his mouth, he leaned back against the tree and continued to look across the desert. He felt uneasy about returning to Garden. It was late, so everyone would be asking him where he had run off to, and why he was pale as new fallen snow and shaking like a leaf. He could lie to them....but he would have to tell the truth to Headmaster Cid. Even Edea would be concerned about him, and would not let him rest until he told her what was going on. He probably wouldn't even get away from Rinoa. Her eyes would pierce into his soul, causing even more agony until he told the painful truth...

Dizziness set in. He closed his eyes, and rested his full weight against the tree he was propped up against. The things that led up to that moment finally came together in his mind, swirling and melting together in an ugly, beautiful truth.

Ragnarok.

Laguna said he would like to talk to Squall after it was all over.

Kiros said he looked like his mother.

Ward said it was a good thing he didn't look like his father.

..Now he knew why.

His mother was dead. His father used to be an idiot in search of a village. Raine Leonhart..Laguna Loire...

His father was at war when he was born. He was sent to an orphanage with Ellone shortly after Raine died. He wasn't even old enough to remember what his mother looked like before he was so abruptly taken away, or to understand why he grew up in an orphanage. All he had known was that Ellone was his big sister, and they lived under the care of Matron Edea. That was all. And now he wished that he hadn't been told, that it was better to live a lie than to live with this new life...

As a child, he had no parents. And now he did?

His exhausted thoughts gave way to dreams as a light, misty rain began to fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She looked out her dorm window. Across the foliage, far to the east, gray storm clouds were building.

She sighed and shook her head. "A storm? Now? ...This is unseasonable."

She continued to scan the horizon, her crystal blue eyes occasionally darting left or right to change her field of view. Her half-conscious thoughts still urged her to return to the party, to rejoin the others and celebrate their Grand Victory over Sorceress Ultimecia. But...why would they want to be around her? They were just doing their own thing: Zell was inhaling hot dogs next to that ponytailed girl, Selphie was absorbed in her search for "Sir Laguna" while swatting away Irvine, Seifer was nowhere to be seen and presumed dead after siding with the Sorceress, Squall and Rinoa--she knew they were still on that balcony, their arms interlaced in some lovers' embrace..

She laid back on her bed and sighed, entertaining the thought a while longer. She could only dream about finding a love like theirs. It seemed that the only ones who had any feelings for her were those bothersome Trepies that worshiped everything she said, did, wore, ate...but even that wasn't love. She also felt as though she still had to restrain her feelings about people, even after resigning as an instructor, because of those Trepies. She had to be a good role model, so she certainly couldn't be walking around like Those Two through a crowd of hostile Trepies.

It was more than the Trepies, though. All her life, she felt that she had to restrain her own emotions. She had to be grown-up, mature, even during the most difficult of times. There was a time when even Squall went to her to find stability when everything seemed to turn upside-down. The day they took Ellone away, everyone else either cried or teased those who were crying. Lo, Quisty still had the strength and kindness to calm the shaken Squall.

But still...why did it always seem that she had to be strong...by herself? 

A slight knock on her door brought her back to the present, and made her tense up in surprise. She sat up on her bed. "Come in!" she called as she smoothed down her golden locks.

The door opened. "..Instructor?"

"Sei...Seifer?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why did he...run?" Laguna asked himself aloud.

He sat at his desk and shook his head, looking out a window at the storm clouds. "Hm. Strange thing, this rain. Figures."

"Uncle Laaguuunaa~~!" a voice called from beyond his office.

"Ellone, in here!"

A door opened and a smiling faced poked into the room. "I should have figured you'd be in here. It's only your office, after all." She entered, and looked around the large room. "Where's Squall?"

"He...left, Ellone," Laguna answered without averting his icy, concrete gaze from the window.

"Aw, you didn't bore him to death with one of your stories, did you?!" Ellone leered at him.

"No, I told him about Raine and myself. I guess he couldn't take it...Not now, so soon after the whole Ultimecia situation."

"So I see." Ellone nodded, and glanced out the same window as Laguna. Her skin suddenly flushed as her temperature dropped. Sweat began to collect at her hairline. She let out a slight moan as a sharp pain hit her abdomen.

Laguna turned to the girl and stood, rushing to her side when he noted her sudden change in pallor. "Elle..?! Are you--"

"It...it's nothing. Just a bad feeling, that's all. Maybe it has something to do with Squall?"

"Do you think...Do you think something happened to him?!?!" Laguna now turned pale himself and began to sweat.

"I...I don't know. I should go after him, just to be certain he's okay. Just to put our minds at ease..."

Laguna nodded. "I'll send Ward and Kiros with you for protection. If you even begin to feel threatened, even the tiniest bit, get back here ASAP, understand?!"

"Sure. Um, I'll go get Ward and Kiros. I saw them on my way in. I promise not to be out long, okay?"

Laguna nodded solemnly. Ellone had a knack for sensing things...but he couldn't just send out an entire army in search for someone because of a feeling...Her sudden reaction may not have been because of Squall after all, so he had to let her go. He had to let time tick by.

Ellone gave him a reassuring smile to let him know she'd hurry back. She turned, and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Fantasy 8 & etc are (c) Square/Squaresoft/not me. Keep that in mind while reading the rest since I don't like pasting disclaimers in places where fic should really go o.O''' And, yes, I wrote that bit before the chapter, too *^^* 


	2. Tell Me

2 - Tell Me 

"I can't believe you're--"

"..Alive?" Seifer snickered and shook his head. "You know I'm tougher than that. Fujin and Raijin are here as well. We'd like to become SeeDs."

Quistis held back a chuckle, and forced her facial features to remain blank. "SeeDs? After your betrayal of this Garden AND SeeDs, you dare to show your face here again? The nerve of you, Seifer. You know you're going to have to see Headmaster Cid immediately, so let's go see--"

"I already talked to him. And Matron. They said that it wasn't my fault, that the sorceress took advantage of me."

"Psch. I still think you did everything on your own, and without any aid from Edea's or Ultimecia's sorcery." Quistis stood, and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, pulling him to eye level. "Tell me what really happened out there. TELL ME what made you betray Garden, betray ALL of us!!"

Seifer leaned in closer to her and glared. "I told you the truth. It wasn't my choice."

Quistis returned the glare, and pushed him out of her grip. She crossed her arms and looked out her window through the corners of her eyes. The storm was getting closer. "Why are you here anyways, Seifer?"

Seifer looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean...why am I in your dorm?"

"No. I want to know why you're on this fucking Earth, why your parents decided to bring you into this world. Hyne, of COURSE I want to know why you're in my dorm!!" Quistis kept her tone barely below yelling, for sanity's sake.

Seifer shivered with her sudden severity, surprised that such a gentle creature could deliver such harsh words. Sure, she had gotten angry with him before, but she was never like this. "Well..." he cleared his throat. "I was hoping that...um...since you did such a great job with Squall and the others, you could instruct Fujin and Raijin."

"Oh?" Quistis narrowed her eyes and cocked an eyebrow.

"I WAS going to ask that you instruct me as well, but that's obviously out of the question now. I can tell you hate me, so I'll just ask about Fujin and Raijin. I want to help fix things that happened in the past, you know, so I want them to get a good start on life again."

"Well, Seifer," Quistis lowered her arms back down to her sides, her hands resting on her hips, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I lost my instructor's license. I could probably get it back again because of Ultimecia's defeat, but I have no desire to teach anymore."

"Bullshit." Seifer spat angerly. "You and I both know that you love to instruct. Quit lying to yourself."

"DON'T even BEGIN to think you understand me, Seifer! Because you DON'T!! No one does! I gave up being an instructor so that I wouldn't have to deal with people like you anymore! I'd rather be stuck for the rest of my life as a SeeD than waste my time on another student like you!"

__

Harsh words, Seifer thought to himself. "Look, Instruct--"

"Quistis. I have a name, Seifer."

"Quistis then. Look. I know what I did in the past was horrible. I realize that now. I just wish I would have realized it earlier. If I had, then everyone would not be so mad at me. Hell, I'd probably be downstairs, being hailed as a hero! If I would have passed that test in Dollet to become a SeeD, I may very well have been fighting alongside yourself!"

"But instead, you became the Sorceress' Lap Dog. We're all so proud of you."

"Quistis, I.." Seifer let out a heavy sigh, and his features softened. "I'm sorry. About everything. I know you won't forgive me, but I can't let this go on forever. I'm sorry, okay?"

Quistis maintained her cold stare. "Well...it's a start, I guess."

The sides of Seifer's mouth perked up slightly, obviously trying to mask a smile. "So...so you accept my apology?"

Quistis shrugged. "I guess. I can't stay mad at you forever. Or maybe this is my fatigue talking, who knows? But, may I offer some advice to you?"

Seifer nodded curiously. "Sure."

"You may not want to come close to Squall and Rinoa. They're kinda pissed at you for throwing her to Adel. Rinoa's said more than once since then that the next time she sees you, she'll claw your eyes out. And Squall...he doesn't say too much, but whenever someone mentions your name, his eyes get dark and you can sense his anger grow."

"Hm. Thanks for the warning." Seifer turned to leave. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

Quistis shifted her weight and nodded, "Yeah, maybe you will. Now where are you going? To get something to eat?"

Seifer chuckled. "Naw. I'm going to apologize to Rinoa."

Quistis' eyes widened. "Wha...I just TOLD you that--"

"Jaa matane, Quisty," he waved as he left the room, and closed the door behind him.

Quistis stared at the door with her eyes still wide-open in disbelief. "That guy really doesn't fear anything." 

Her eyes trailed from the door for a moment, then blushed in spite of herself. _he...he called me......_ She quickly shook her head. _No, I wished for company, a friend, anything...anything but *him*...mustn't jump to conclusions..._ She gathered her wits. "Wait...This isn't the time for such things...I should make sure he doesn't do anything stupid..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Placing the blame

3 - Placing the Blame

"Please, wait here. I'll go talk to him." Ellone awaited a nod from Ward and Kiros, which she quickly received. She turned, keeping her shawl over her head to shield herself from the light rain, and strode silently up to the tree where the dark, curled-up figure of Squall rested against a tree. She had used her intuition to find him, here, under this tree about a mile from the Presidential Palace of Esthar. She gave herself a silent congratulations when she was close enough to the slumped figure to know, without a doubt, that it was indeed Squall.

Ellone was close enough to hear his breathing now, and realized that he was asleep. She whispered his name to wake him up without startling him, but he did nothing more than roll his head to face the other direction. She shrugged and yelled his name. "SQUALL!!"

"GAAAAH!!" he shot up, and almost took out Ellone when he swung around to face the direction his name was called from.

"EEEK!! Uh, remind me to NEVER do that AGAIN!!" Ellone was breathing heavily now, quite reasonably shaken up by Squall's thrashing so close to her. "So..are you okay? Why did you run off?"

"I'm fine." Squall said indifferently, and brushed some mud from the base of his jacket. "I just wanted to be alone, that's all."

"I see.." Ellone eyed him curiously. "You're soaking wet, you know. We should go back to the Palace so you can cha--"

"No, I think I'll just go back to Garden, thank you."

Ellone shook her head underneath her shawl. "Oh. So now you're avoiding Him."

"No, I just would like to wear my OWN clothes, okay?!" Squall spat, annoyed slightly.

Ellone pulled back a bit, surprised by his tone. "Well, you didn't have to give me a tongue lashing over it." She huffed a bit to emphasize her point. "Mind if we escort you to Ragnarok? We want to make sure you get back safely to your Garden."

"Who's 'we'?" Squall looked around, then spotted two figures in the rain nearby. "Them?"

"Yeah. It's just Ward and Kiros. Laguna had me bring them along...for protection."

Squall just looked at her, his face showing no emotion except for his eyes. Ellone noticed this and looked into them. His eyes showed...anger? _Oh, _she thought, _now he's hypersensitive to the name 'Laguna'._ She peered further, noticing the signs of crying that puffed up his face slightly. _Squall...you may be able to hide your feelings, but you can't hide your tears._

Squall averted her gaze, looking left as he spoke. "Ellone, why didn't you tell me about Him when we were with Matron?"

"I...." she looked down, ashamed suddenly, "...I thought it was best you didn't know. If you did, then you would have grown up hating someone you didn't know, someone you couldn't recognize even if he was standing right in front of you...I thought it was better you grew up without that thought...and you wouldn't have listened to me if I told you it wasn't...Laguna's fault that he didn't see you."

"How...do you mean..?"

Ellone sighed. She began her tale of the past, as she remembered it...and as Laguna had told her. "Laguna proposed to Raine not too long before he had to go to War. Like you, he was a Soldier...obligated to serve when called forth to do so. They were married...and the next day, Laguna was sent to fight. He was gone for less than a year, and worked when he wasn't fighting to try to get more money for Raine and himself to move into a better house. When he returned to Winhill from war, he found out that Raine became very ill and died after childbirth...a child Laguna didn't even know about! The people of Winhill blamed him for Raine's death, saying that if he hadn't been there, if he had left when they so casually hinted at it while he recovered, and hadn't given her a child, she would still be alive. So they further tormented him by denying him the name and location of his son, and refusing to tell him where they sent me as well, I'm assuming it was so that he wouldn't "hurt" me like he did to Raine. What they also didn't tell him was that they sent us away because we made everyone sad...we reminded them of Raine, and even moreso since you looked a lot like your mother when you were an infant. They sent us both off to an orphanage to more or less grant us a better life than we would have had with him. 

"However...I still remembered and loved my Uncle Laguna. I wanted to be with him SO badly when Matron said I was old enough to be adopted...but I knew that since Laguna didn't know about you, he wouldn't believe you were his son. I also thought that he wouldn't have the time to be with us anymore like he was before that even if he did accept you. I stayed behind as long as I could to make sure you were okay, that you were put into a good home. I was so naive back then...if I had known about Esthar...things may be different today."

"Wait." Squall held out his hand, signaling for her to stop. "None of this is your fault. The people of Winhill are to blame...NOT Laguna?"

"Partially," Raine nodded happily. "See, Laguna's not a bad guy...it wasn't really all his fault. It was a combination of things. Raine probably still would have died even if he HAD been there, and he would eventually have to do some military thing or other and be forced to leave us behind. Maybe it's fate that we were able to reunite with him after things settled down...instead of being torn apart in the midst of things."

Squall let the silence take hold for a moment, then nodded. "I should be heading back now."

Ellone knew the answer, but she asked regardless. "To Esthar?"

"No, to Garden. If you insist upon escorting me to Ragnarok, then let's get going. Or else I'll head on out without you three to see me off." Squall began walking toward the flat area of land he left Ragnarok at.

"Oh, Squall..." Ellone waved for Ward and Kiros to follow as she kept close in toe with Squall. _Squall, does this mean you'll forgive him now?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quistis went through the opened doors of the elevator, and stepped briskly toward the ballroom party. She entered the room. Hundreds of students, SeeDs, Instructors, and guests were still dancing around, talking, eating, drinking, sleeping....everywhere. She noticed Selphie was asleep, propped-up against one of the side walls, while Irvine was sitting next to her, watching the crowd loosely packed into the room. Zell was still eating (_That pig, _she thought), whereas his lady friend was asleep in her chair next to him. Quistis decided it was best to talk to Irvine, and ask him if he had known where Seifer had disappeared to since she could find neither him, Rinoa, nor Squall anywhere.

She walked up to him. Irvine noticed her as she was approaching, and stood to greet her. He removed his hat from his head and said, "'Mornin'! What's wrong, Quisty? Couldn't sleep?"

"Eh, something like that," Quistis replied politely. "You wouldn't happen to know where Seifer is at, do you? He came down here a little bit ago..."

"Oh, yeah! I did see him! He apologized to me a few minutes ago. Seems like he wants to be a good guy after all this sorceress business, like he's here for some real purpose instead of just being anti-social. He was out on the balcony with Rinoa last I saw him, but I think he wants to be left alo--"

"Thanks!" Quistis smiled, and waved to the cowboy as she sprinted toward the balcony.

"Eh? No prob!" Irvine called after her.

Quistis first listened closely to try to hear some sound of struggle, but was surprised to hear nothing. _Did they push him off the balcony?_ She leaned her head so it peeked around the entryway, enabling her to see who was out there without being seen herself, then she ducked back inside so that they wouldn't see her if they turned suddenly. _Hm. No Squall. Did he JUMP off the balcony when he saw Seifer? Did Squall think he was a ghost???_

She decided to eavesdrop for a little while - just to make sure nothing happened to either of them. 

"Esthar?" 

"Yeah." 

"So, what, he saved the world and now everyone wants to give him a damned medal or something?" 

"Not...exactly. I don't think Laguna would have summoned only him for the sake of awarding a medal. Don't you think he would have invited some of us as well? It seems like something private to me." 

"Hm." 

"Uuu? What's the matter?" 

"...Nothing really. Just strange that everyone's welcoming me back. I thought I'd have my ass whomped on by five or so people by now." 

A light chuckle. 

"...What's so funny?" 

"...Nothing. Nothing at all." 

Silence. 

Quistis slowly poked her head outside again to see what caused the silence. She was leery about it since she knew they may have changed the direction in which they were facing and might see her, so she worked slowly. 

She had hardly began the movement, though, when Edea Kramer came up behind Quistis and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped, and turned to face her.

"OOOOH, QUISTY!! I'm glad to see you're back down here!!" Edea beamed rather loudly, then hugged the [now trembling] Quistis Trepe and walked the both of them out onto the balcony. Seifer and Rinoa turned around and glared at Quistis, sensing that she had been there for more than just a moment because of Edea's tone. Seifer rolled his eyes at her, then stifled a chuckle with his fist. Edea looked at the group, then announced, "I wanted to tell Rinoa first about Squall's return. Ragnarok just landed a few moments ago."

"Oh?" Quistis said. "Where did he come back from?"

"Esthar." Edea stated plainly. 

"As if you didn't hear already," Rinoa spat with a hint of venom in her tone. 

Edea paused for a moment, then smiled and shook her head as she recalled that Rinoa was not one of the children she had some part in raising. "Anyway, he seemed....um....unusually happy. He tried to hide it, but I could see his eyes smiling as he asked me to round up his comerades." 

Seifer seemed to whiten slightly. "Yeah...I'll bet he'll be happy to see me, alright. I'll let you guys catch him while he's in a good mood. Call me when you're--" 

Quistis had enough. "Oh, really? NOW who's the damn Chickn Wuss??" 

Zell poked his head outside, and said through a mouthfull of food, "Cake at en er ash." Swollowing his food, he then pointed and let out a hearty laugh. 

Seifer cocked an eyebrow, and Zell shrank back. "Sorry, sir. Maybe...maybe I should be more kind towards a lapdog such as yourself!!" 

Zell received a swift smack to the back of his head. "I didn't raise my children to behave this way." She glared at Zell more intensely. "And so soon you forget just which sorceress you're referrring to." 

Zell rubbed his head and muttered an apology while glaring at Seifer. The tension was broken by Rinoa whom ran between the two singing, "Well, I don't wanna wait anymore so take as long as you want to!" and bolted towards Ragnarok. 

Seifer looked at Zell, then Matron, then Quistis...and shrugged. He followed the path of Rinoa outside to the area where the Garden Fesitval was supposed to be hosted (seemingly the best place for aircraft to land on the still-flying Garden). 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Angel

4 - Angel

"SQUALL!!!" 

Rinoa ran up to him. He turned just in time. "Rinoa!" he exclaimed as he lifted her off the ground and spun her in the air before taking her into his arms. He smiled. "I have so much to tell you.." 

Zell flinched and stepped back. "My...my god..." 

"What is it now?" Quistis asked Zell. "Seifer didn't do a damned thing." 

"He...he's...smiling? Is that a good thing, because I'm feelin' really scared right now!!" 

Irvine laughed, then slapped Zell firmly on his back. "You're really funny li'l fella. Haha...scared. Good one!" 

Zell chuckled. "Yeah...funny....ha......" Zell shook his head, then whispered, "But I wasn't kidding...I don't even think he smiled after we killed Ultimecia..." 

Attention shifted back to the pair. Squall had whispered something into Rinoa's ear and she was busy hugging him and telling him how happy she was for him. All they overheard was, "Are you sure?" which was asked by Rinoa and confirmed by a nod and another smile. Rinoa's lips moved again, soundlessly forming the words "Are you okay with all this?" which was answered by a shrug, and a not so enthousiastic nod. 

"Okay, this is pissing me off. Why the 'ell is he so damn happy all of a sudden?" Zell whined uncomfortably. 

Squall took this as his cue to explain as frankly as he could: "I finally found out who my parents are." 

Selphie, who was drug along by Irvine, rubbed an eye with her hand then asked what everyone was thinking: "Who?" 

Squall made a puzzled face, as though he weren't exactly sure himself. "Well...eh...it's...kind of complicated..." 

"Laguna and Raine!!" Rinoa exclaimed, breaking into a chuckle. "I'm sorry, Squall...I just wanted to tell everyone before we grew old." 

Squall's expression saddened a bit. "I wanted to tell them, though." 

"I said I was sorry...I really mean it. It just sounded like you didn't want to admit it after getting everyone so worked up," she waved toward the others who seemed quite indifferent aside from slight smiles. 

"We're happy to hear you're getting your life together," Zell cheered half-heartedly. "Really...we're glad...like this is your week or something." 

"Yeah. At least someone's finding out who handed them over to Matron," Seifer added. 

Squall's eyes widened, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Bastard. You dare show your face in Garden again? And insult my family??" 

Seifer scratched the back of his neck. "Well...I didn't mean it in a mean way, really...I simply meant that--" 

"That Laguna chose to get rid of Ellone and I? To send us off to strangers because he didn't want to take care of us after my mother died?" Squall's anger rose visably as his face reddened. 

"I...I just meant that you ended up there, and I'm glad you finally know why. Damn." Seifer spat. "At least you KNOW you have parents!! What about the rest of us?! You think we're supposed to be all happy?! You just reminded us about just how fucked our lives really are!!" 

Squall lunged at Seifer, but was luckily held back by the efforts of Rinoa. Quistis rushed to her aid when Squall began to thrash, yelling profanities at the son-of-a-bitch who nearly killed them all, the fucker, and why did he come back - to finish them off? 

Quistis lost her patience and slapped Squall. Hard. He stopped thrashing, and Rinoa shrunk back beside him. 

"What? You're with him in this, Quistis?!" Squall yelled. 

Quistis slapped him again with the back of her hand. "Sober up, boy. I feel the same way he does. I just didn't want to share it with you as readily as Seifer. If you were in our shoes, wouldn't you feel the same way?" Quistis snorted. "So just have some sympathy for us. We're happy for you, but that doesn't mean we're enthousiastic. We're not exactly jealous, either. We're just..." Quistis shook her head, "...I don't know. But just relax. Seifer's here to stay, so you may as well get used to him again." She turned around and faced Seifer. "But maybe this time his stay will be more pleasant. I certainly would enjoy not being insulted about my teaching abilities." 

Seifer shrugged. "I'm sorry. And Squall?" 

Squall took a step forward and narrowed his eyes. 

Seifer blinked and looked Squall in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about everything that happened." 

"Don't tell me," Squall stated, "tell Rinoa. You just about got her killed...on multiple occasions." 

"He did." 

"What?" Squall asked, turning to his right to face the girl. 

"He did apologize to me," Rinoa explained. "We were still talking when you showed up in Ragnarok." 

Squall shrugged, and turned back to face Seifer. "Well......" 

He paused for a few moments. 

"....Damn. But don't do anything stupid, you hear me? Not a single damn thing, else I'll make your ass repay your fault three-fold." 

Seifer grinned. "So be it." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So he should already be back in Balamb," Laguna sighed, then poked his head out his door and ordered his sercretary to phone a message to the Garden and make sure Squall arrived without trouble. He circled his desk a few times, and Ellone watched him as he paced in front of a window. The rain was still falling, but there was a sign of it ending in the distance as a sliver of sunlight pierced through the grayed sky. He gazed for a few moments, but turned away when the sliver of light was suffocated by a thick cloud. "Ellone?" 

"Yes?" she took a little step toward his desk. 

"Do you think...do you think he'll forgive me for all the lost time?" 

Ellone walked closer to his desk and smiled cheerily. "Of course he will. That is, if he doesn't already. He seemed to understand that it wasn't your fault, really." She nodded. "Yes, he mustn't feel any hatred towards you anymore. There's no need." 

Laguna nodded satisfactorily. "Then I've already began to make up for lost time." 

"Mr. President, there's a woman here to see you," his receptionist announced through the opened door of his office.

"Who is here? I was just about to retire...all this rain is making me..."

"She's refusing to tell us, Mr. President. She wants to talk to you right away. She says it's important."

Laguna sighed, and shook his head. "All right, send her in."

"Yes, sir!" the secretary said, and waved the woman towards the room.

Laguna turned, and waited to see his rain-soaked visitor emerge from the outer hallway.

Ellone's eyes widened.

Laguna gasped.

"Ra....Raine?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Memory

5 - Memory 

"I'm surprised you're forgiving him so easily, Squall..." Rinoa trailed off, not wanting to comment on exactly why she was surprised. She thought it was best to not say she assumed he'd disembowel him with his Gunblade, cut off his head after letting him bleed to death, set it on a pike, and display it in the entryway for all to see - right next to the Directory with a plaque below it that says "Don't fuck with SeeD." 

"Not too surprising," Squall pointed out. "He was bound to grow out of his attitide one of these eons. Maybe it took a war to make him treasure life. Certainly changed me." He took the moment to tenderly place a hand on Rinoa's shoulder. She smiled and nodded, then rested her head against his own shoulder. "Hopefully this change in him will last," he added before turning out the light. 

Rinoa whispered, "I dearly hope so.." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I...couldn't bear being alone. I just couldn't let the war take another of my loved ones away from me!!"

Laguna just stared at the woman. This could *NOT* be his Raine!

"They came to take Ellone...to test the machine they made. I was still weak from childbirth so I couldn't exactly fight off the men, but I was willing to try if it meant I could save Ellone. Then they mentioned that they were from a lab in Esthar...and I remembered your last letter saying you were staying in Esthar temperarily to help restore order to it....Laguna, you didn't write me after that for months!! I thought you were dead!! We ALL did!!!"

Laguna turned from her.

Raine noticed she struck a sour chord with him, so she changed her path and continued her story. "But I didn't care...all I know is that I would have a little chance to see you again...so I told them they could take Ellone as long as I went with them. They said it would be a good idea for me to go anyways, since it would relax Ellone to see a familiar face if they had to do further experimenting, and had me sign a vow of silence about Odine's time-travel project. I left Squall in the care of neighbors, and left with the men and Ellone. Little did I know how much I was getting myself into..."

Ellone had been busy looking at the ground, away from the two. She felt especially horrible about having to keep this secret from Laguna for so long. But, in fact, she had believed this lie...this lie that was so much better than what she knew to be true...

"At the lab in Esthar, they took us to the room with their machine. They explained how they were going to use Ellone to send someone back in time, then send them back in time with their machine and ask the person if they experienced the same feeling during both journeys. Ellone proceeded to do as they instructed...but something happened. She couldn't send the person back in time. She said that it was too hard...she didn't want a stranger to see personal memories since the only people she knew were all back in Winhill...I talked to her about it, and asked the scientists if I could go back instead. They said it was fine, and warned me of the dangers with the experimental machine...Ellone cried and refused to do it because she didn't want to hurt me. I told her it was okay, and the sooner we got it over with, the sooner we could go home...remember, Ellone?" 

Ellone nodded, and continued to look at the floor. 

"She finally agreed, and said she would send me to the near past, to your past, Laguna, so we could know if you were still alive..." Raine's facial expressions softened, but her tears still fell down her cheeks. "I...I saw you alive, breathing. I was relieved you were all right...and to see you one more time...it was the best feeling in the world! But...the feeling was torn from me when Ellone brought me back. The scientists asked me a series of questions and took their notes...then began to hook me up to their machine. Ellone asked me about you, and I told her you were alive. I barely had time to tell her that if I didn't come back...to take care of her little brother. I was hoping everyone could start a new life if everyone else survived without the thought of me being in the back of their minds...They turned on the machine, and sent me into the same period of time in the past. The scientists eagerly asked me what I saw, so I told them it was exactly the same thing I saw with Ellone's help. They asked me more questions....and I answered them the best I could. They said I did well and congratulated themselves on a successful new invention that would change the course of the world...But before they could let us leave, they wanted me to go to Adel's past. They said that since my first journey was flawless, it would be best if I discovered the location of Adel to see if she was still alive. I was sent into time with the machine once more, but something went wrong. Instead of being sent to the past to see if Adel was alive, they instead sent me to the exact moment when Adel began to die. They said they couldn't bring me back, that my brainwaves were still being transmitted into the machine: pulling the plug would have killed me. ...I only came out of the machine's grasp recently...last night, in fact. Other than feeling Adel die, I don't remember what happened...it seems like yesterday that I saw you thanks to Ellone..." 

Raine realized that Laguna was still looking away from her. "You...you believe me...don't you?" 

Laguna finally looked at her again. "I....I don't know...." His hands were trembling as he reached forward to grab her hand. He studied it, and turned the ring around her finger. "I just don't know....." 

"Laguna?" 

Ellone couldn't take it anymore. Something burnt inside her like fire and she had to do something before she turned to ash. 

"It's my fault!! It's ALL my fault!! If I....if I had told you about Odine's lab...my god, Laguna..I'm so sorry!!" she sobbed, her tears falling freely down her delicate cheekbones. "This is Raine. No one else would know. This IS Raine!!" 

"Ellone..." Raine cooed. She walked over to the girl and placed her arms around her. "It's okay. This isn't anyone's fault, especially not yours. All that matters is that I'm here now. We can't change the past, but we can change the future, so just keep on living. Ellone.." She began crying herself. "Ellone..." 

Laguna felt dizzy. _Raine? No it can't....Raine?!?! Impossible...but she's here...Raine!! No, she was gone for years. It can't be..._

He ran over to Raine and tore her from Ellone, holding her in his strong arms. "Raine...." 

Raine felt warm, a warmth she hadn't felt for what seemed like decades. She said nothing, but buried her head into Laguna's chest. In the midst of her tears, she smiled. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Die._

'SeeD...SeeD...SeeD!!!' 

_Die. Die. You caused all this. Die._

'Kurse all SeeDs!!' 

_Let me be the one to kill you. Die_

A chuckle. 

_Demon. Sorceress. Bitch. I want you dead. I want to feel your blood on my hands. You're not worthy of the air you breathe. Just let me kill you. Give me that one pleasure. I control your fate. Die._

'Behold. The most powerful GF. Griever, make them bleed!!' 

_Coward. This is your battle. Don't make someone else fight it for you. I want YOU dead, not--_

His consciousness was suddenly awakened. It was all a dream. No. A nightmare. 

One thing began pulsing through him mind at that moment:

__

Why did Ultimecia summon a creature named "Griever" ?

A chill enveloped Squall's body, sending it into a series of subtle tremors. He wanted to know...he *had* to know why Ultimecia summoned a creature named after his ring, his pendant, the very engraving on his Gunblade!!

He turned in his bed, finally intent upon going to the library, knowing that sleep would evade him and more nightmares would ensue if he waited any longer. 

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then turned and sat up in bed. 

Then he remembered. 

Rinoa had his ring. 

He looked around the room. 

Rinoa had stayed with him. 

But she wasn't...... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Midnight Radio

6 - Midnight Radio 

His heart raced almost as quickly as his legs, each step becoming more and more difficult to complete. Where was she, god, where did she go, where did she disappear to? 

He cursed the size of the Garden in his mind. Too many places for her to go. He didn't care what it took, paid no mind to his worry, only wanting to know what happened to her. Something told him that she was safe, but the thought didn't comfort him at all. He wanted to _know_ she was safe, see it with his own eyes. 

He raced into the cafeteria, his eyes scanning the surroundings and finally finding her. There she was, sitting at one of the steel tables, quietly conversing with Quistis. He breathed a short sigh of relief, and walked towards them. They appearantly had heard him coming since their eyes seemed more focused on him than each other. "Rinoa," he scolded, "why did you run off like that without me knowing?" 

She chuckled. "Listen to yourself, Squall. I'm not a slave. I was just talking to Quistis about...things." 

Squall shrugged. "but...I don't know. You just scared me. Too soon for you to disappear like that. I turn and find you gone, thinking that something...." he trailed off, and shrugged again. "I don't know. It's two days after Ultimecia's defeat and I still feel like something's not quite right around here." 

"Squall," Quistis began, "we're all still keeping our guards up out of habit. I couldn't sleep, so I went to get Selphie to talk to, but...eh...something told me that opening her door would not be a good thing. I went to yours and knocked quietly, and--" 

"I was still awake. I got up and opened the door, and followed Quistis down here. We managed to get some coffee," she gestured toward the two cups in front of them on the table, "and decided to talk about all this. You're not the only one who has nightmares, Squall." 

A chill went down his spine again as he recalled his dream. _Griever..._ "I...need to figure something out, but I don't think anyone would have any answers if I asked." 

"You never know until you try," Quistis suggested. "Maybe we would know?" 

"I..doubt it.." Squall shook his head. "It's about Griever." 

"Your ring? Oh, I still have it on my chain," Rinoa smiled and pointed at it. "See, it's safe!" 

"No..." Squall shook his head again. "See? I knew it was pointless to ask..." 

"You mean the GF, Griever, right?" Quistis asked. 

Rinoa looked at Quistis and shook her head. Quistis nodded at her with a serious look on her face. 

"I...We think that it...deffinately has something to do with your ring. Obviously it has some relation to your own Griever," Rinoa stated coldly. "However...I don't think anyone will know the true link, at least not in this era. I can only hope that we live to find the answer." 

"That's almost too frightening to think about," Quistis shuddered. "If we live to see Griever...then...that may also mean that Ultimecia will enter our lives again. I'd rather never see tham and forget about them entirely." 

Rinoa shook her head. "I...I don't know. Someday Ultimecia will inherit my powers, that's for certain, but...I don't know if she'll inherit them directly. There may be another successor before her. That's what I would rather not think about, if I'd have to see her again on even less friendly terms." 

Squall listened impatiently. Not only did they have no answers for him, but they were creating even more questions and progressivly making him confused. He would like to answer one question before starting an entirely new revelation that needed sorting out, but Rinoa's future was also something he had to consider. 

Quistis stood and streatched. "Well, now that you have someone else to talk to, I think I'll go try to get some rest. It's been weeks since I've seen more than five hours sleep a night." She waved to the two, chirping a "Good night" between yawns, then walked off toward the dorms. 

Squall shifted his gaze back to Rinoa after Quistis disappeared from sight. Rinoa was still looking off at the place where she last saw Quistis, her eyes fixed on the delicately engraved keystone above the hallway entrance. She didn't seem to blink once, but her eyes remained soft, transfixed. 

He knew the silence should be broken. He searched his mind for something to talk about, but his thoughts were interrupted by a "Please, have a seat." He did as asked, and awated for Rinoa's eyes to meet his. The moment did not come. 

"I..need to talk about things," she continued as if he did not move a moment ago, her eyes still studying the masonry above the hallway. She blinked once, then shifted her gaze downward. "I can't rest until I know for sure," she began, her words not wavering in the least, "I need to know, like you, something that no one can answer for me. I need to learn more about Ultimecia." 

Squall shook his head. "Hnn...why?" 

Rinoa smiled, her eyes gathering more light as they sparkled from the floodlit atmosphere. "There's things that I don't understand about her, reasons why things happened the way they did. For example, there were the bodies of White SeeDs outside the Orphanage when we were on our way to her castle. So SeeDs existed in her time? But...how could they let her get so out-of-hand?" 

"She must have been too strong for them to keep her under control. She could have manipulated them, just as she manipulated Galbadia in the body of Matron Edea." Squall also began staring at the keystone. "I don't know how else to explain it." 

"But...she wasn't too strong for us? Why were we so lucky if she was too strong for SeeD? Why did she hate SeeD? Why was she by the orphanage, anyway!? What business did she have there!? Edea gave up her powers to me, so I don't see how anyone else could have any ties to that place!" Rinoa realized the tone of her voice reached a near yell, and tried to calm herself down. She continued to stare at the keystone. "Who...will be Ultimecia, and...what will make her be so horrible and hateful? Will she be someone who was nice at one time? But...what will cause such a thing, and what will make her loathe SeeD?" At this point she turned to Squall, and he turned to face her after feeling her gaze heavily upon him. "You may have questions, but they all lead back to Ultimecia. If you want your answer about Griever, we'll have to be very careful. We can't let the slightest detail pass us as time goes on if it may one day lead us to an answer, any answer." 

Squall took up her hands into his and squeezed them slightly. "Rinoa..?" 

She nodded. 

"Then...then I'll have to tell you about what happened after the battle with her, with Ultimecia." 

"Squall?" 

"..About how I found myself in the past, at the orphanage. I talked to Edea, and Ultimecia found us there. She gave her powers to Matron, Rinoa, so Ultimecia's power is already inside you." 

Rinoa flinched, her eyes open. "Already...inside..." 

"..I didn't want to tell you. I knew what it would do to you. But...if you wanted to know more about Ultimecia, then you had to know." Squall shook his head. "I'm sorry, Rinoa." 

"Don't be," she said stalely. "People stopped killing bearers of bad news centuries ago." 

Squall grimaced slightly, then chuckled a bit when realizing the humor in her response. 

Rinoa thought about what he said for a moment, then shrugged. "But I don't feel evil. So...maybe it's not her power that makes her mean." 

"Of course not. Edea received her power first-hand, and you can see how kind Edea is. She was that way before Ultimecia posessed her and sought Time Compression. It's the person that's evil, not the power." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	7. Appears

7 - Appears 

"Right now?" 

"Yes. They should arrive in a few minutes, Squall." 

"But I still don't understand how..." 

"Don't try to understand. Just don't shut her out; listen to everything she tells you." 

"How can you expect me to trust her?" 

"Because I was there, Squall. You trust **me**, don't you? I witnessed what happened to her. I just......" 

"...Ellone?" 

"Goodbye, Squall." 

"Ellone.." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The side doors of the cerulean shuttle opened. Out stepped two men in uniforms of similar color who then stood on either side of the opened doors. Out stepped the familliar figure of Laguna. He turned his back to the assembled group positioned not too far away, and helped a small woman to the grounds of Garden. She was pale, almost colorless; her raven-colored hair providing vast contrast to the pallor of her skin. She wore a black skirt, an oversized sky blue sweater, and delicate leather sandles. She had a demure feeling about her which showed in her shy expression. 

Laguna stood to the side of Raine, her hand locked onto his, and looked at Squall and the others. They seemed about as defensive as he had felt when Raine entered his office the day before. He wondered if he was doing the right thing by throwing Raine to her son after all she had been through. Was she really ready? Should he have given her more time to heal? And Squall...it was enough of a shock to introduce himself as his father, but now Raine had come into the picture as well. God, how thankful he was that his prayers were answered, but was he rushing things so soon? 

Raine squeezed his hand once as her eyes fell upon her son. She noticed a young girl in blue beside him with her right hand hidden in the back of his jacket. Raine grew warm inside with love for her as well, knowing she was the one her son loved. He seemed to have turned out just fine by what Laguna told her, but now it was even more pleasant to picture her son saving the known universe from an evil centuries away. 

Squall looked sternly at the woman, studying her features. It certainly looked like the Raine he remembered from his trips to the past, but... He couldn't place a name on the feeling, but something just didn't seem right about her presence. But...damn, he wanted to believe it was her. We wanted, perhaps more for Ellone than for himself, what Ellone had sent him to the past for: a happy ending. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Of course I knew that this wouldn't be easy for you to comprehend. You were only four months old when I left you back in Winhill, after all, or else you would recall that I was quite healthy when you last saw me," Raine's eyes were pleading for Squall to understand her words, but his own were vacant of emotion. "...What more can I say to convince you?" 

"I want proof," Squall murmered. "You can sing and dance about how you never died, but who's to say you're not an imposter out to take advantage of the feelings of Esthar's president?" 

Laguna reached into the chest pocket of his shirt and pulled out a yellowed, folded sheet of paper. He handed it to Squall. 

"This...?" Squall began to ask as he unfolded it and started reading what was written upon the paper. 

"It's from Odine's lab," Laguna explained. "He still had the vow of silence she signed all those years ago. How's that for proof?" 

"I..." Squall whispered as he finished reading the document. He recalled Ellone's words she said to him during their conversation earlier. Ellone witnessed it, too. So that meant ... 

"I...think that my head is going to explode from all that's happened in the past few weeks." 


End file.
